Automobile lock



June 12, 1928. 1,673,737

H. s. DE LAND AUTOMOB I LE LOCK Filed June 30, 192.5 3 Sheets-Sheet l June 12, 1928. 1,673,737

H. 5. DE LAND AUTOMOBILE LOCK Filed June 30, 1925 5 Sheets-$heet 2 June'lz, 1928. 1,673,737

' H. 5. DE LAND AUTOMOBILE LOCK Filed June 30, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented June 12, 1928 UNITED STATES 1,673,737 PATENT OFFICE.

HERBERT S. DE LAND, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

AUTOMOBILE LOCK.

Application filed June 30, 1925.

This invention relates to controlling devices and more particularly to a combined ignition and fuel lock for motor vehicles.

()ne of the principal objects is to provide a simple and el'licient device of this character which may be conveniently installed at a reasonable cost so as to be within reach of all motorists and which will effectively prevent the unauthorized use of the motor vehicle.

Heretofore ignition and fuel locks have been provided but never before to my knowledge have they been associated in such an intimate manner and yet wholly independent. 111 most of the structures of which 1 am aware the ignition control and the fuel con trol were so coupled that once an unauthorized user found the combination of the fuel control or the ignition control the other was in operative condition. By having the fuel control and the ignition control independent it is necessary to know both combinations or obtain both combinations before the vehicle can be started and it is therefore the object of this invention to provide inde pendent ignition and fuel controls but to associate them in such manner that both may be conveniently operated by the owner.

Another object of the invention is to provide independent fuel and ignition controlling devices having operating members working over a common permutation dial located on the instrument board within easy reach of the operator of the vehicle.

Another and very essential feature of the present invention is the arrangement and as sociation of the fuel lock with the vacuum tank and also in enclosing said fuel lock in such manner that it can not be tan'ipered with or the fuel supply line from the vacuum tank uncoupled.

Where fuel locks have been employed heretofore and connected in the fuel supply line to the carburetor it was a simple matter to disconnect these locks or cut the supply line on either side thereof and connect them up with a short hose. By enclosing the lock it is impossible to tamper with the same or connect up the'vacuum tank with the carburetor unless the combination is known.

Further objects of the invention will appear as the. following specific description is read in connection with the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this invention, and in which:

Serial No. 40.602.

F igure 1 is a vertical section taken through the dashboard and instrument board of an ordinary motor vehicle showing the control parts in side elevation;

Figure 2 is a. detail vertical longitudinal section view taken through the fuel control valve casing;

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line of Figure 2;

Figure t shows an elevation of the dashboard dial and controlling levers;

Figure is a longitudinal section taken through the dial and ignition controlling switch;

Figure 6 is a section taken on the line 66 of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary section through the lock valve housing at right angles to the section of Figure 1.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the housing removed from the vacuum tank and with parts broken away; and

Figure 9 is a detail section showing a modified method of connecting the housing to the vacuum tank.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 represents the dashboard of a vehicle which as usual supports the vacuum tank 2 receiving its fuel supply from a storage tank at the rear of the vehicle and which it is not necessary to illustrate herein. 3 represents the cowl of the vehicle and 4 the ordinary instrument board placed directly in front of the driver and within convenient reach.

In the p resent instance instead of conducting the fuel from the vacuum tank directly to the carburetor the tank is connected to a valve casing 5 by means of a pipe '6. The pipe 6 is shown connected to an intake nipple 7 and the casing is shown provided with an outlet nipple 8 arranged in a different plane so that one of the valves located within the casing controls the inlet and the other valve controls the outlet. These valves are illustrated at 9 and 10 and are identical with the valves disclosed in the Hamilton Patent 1,528,825 which this invention is intended to improve. As shown herein and as in the Hamilton patent, the valve 9 is connected to an operating rod or shaft 11 while the valve 10 is connected to an independently rotatable sleeve or tubular shaft 12 surrounding the rod. Each valve is provided with a lat eral port 13 and with a plurality of openings 14 arranged in the body thereof. The lat-- eral port of the valve 9 is adapted to register loo with the inlet nipple 7 and the lateral port 13 of the valvelt) is adapted to register with the outlet port 8 while the openings 1% in the two valve members are adapted to register so as to put the upper and lower portiom; of the valve casing into connnunication practically at all times.

111 the present construction the shaft. 11 and sleeve 12 are extended on a diagonal line thaya h the'dashboard 1 and through a dial 15 mounted on the instrun'ient board, where they have secured thereto by set screws 16 the operating handles 17 and 18, the former being securedto the shaft and the latter being secured to the sleeve. 15y connecting the levers to the shaft and sleeve in the manner s'n'n'wn the lovers may be adjusted around the. dial freely of the parts they operate so that any combination of numbers on the dial may be obtained. the dial being graduated, as shown, tor this purpose.

All of the lo'regoing as it relates to the valve for controlling the fuel supply is substantially the same as that disclosed in the Hamilton patent with certain changes to adapt the same to the modern type of automobile and to the present in'tprovement.

Secured to the dial and passing through the instrument board is a collar 15) which has integral therewith or secured thereto a cap or cover member 20 to which is detachably connected in any suitable manner a casing 521. This casing carries an annular insulating ring 22 notched around its inner su'rface,as shown; and embedded in the ring are the electrical contact elements 23 and 24 arranged at points around the circle which may be any degree of separation except 180. In other words, the contacts should never be spaced 180 apart and preferably the contact 2-1 is arranged on theopposite side of the circle approxinn tcly 170 from the contact This arrangement of the contacts will be explained later on in the specification wherein the operation of the device is described.

Freely rotatable within the collar 19 and also freely rotatable about the tubular shaft 12 is a metallic sleeve which bears at its lower end upon the bottom of the casing 21 and at: its upper end extends a short distance through the dial 15 where it has secured thereto by means of a set screw 26 an operating lever :27 arranged to swing around the dial closely adjacent thereto and below the levers 1'7 and 18. It will be noticed that the levers 17, 18 and 27 are of different lengths and arranged in different planes so that they may swing around a con'lplcte circle without interference one with the other and each provided with a sharpened end forming a pointer co-operating with the graduations on the dial to indicate when the parts are in proper position for the operation of the fuel feeding valve.

Secured to the lower end of the sleeve 25 a metallic head 26 having cut away por tions 27 at diametrically opposite corners and pivoted to the head. within the cut away portions are contact arms 28 and .29 each provided at its free terminal with a contact roller 30. These rollers are held in engage ment with the insulating ring and with the contacts 23 and 24. by means of leaf springs 31, which engage fingers 32 on the arms.

As will be noted from an inspection of the drawings. the arms are in the form of hell cranks and the springs 31 have a normal tendency to press the fingers 3:3 inwardly so as to throw the rollers into engagement with the contacts 23 and 24.

The arm 29 as shown in Figure (3 is some what shorter than the arm 25 so that with the contacts 23 and 24- arranged at points of separation around the circle less than 180 one of the arms will engage contact 33 while the other arm is in engagement: with contact 24, when the operating lever 27 is in a certain position on the dial. ltv arranging the contacts in the manner shown and constrm'ting the levers of different lengths so as to engage the contacts 23 and 24 simultaneously the circuit will be completed through the contacts. arms 28 and 2!) and metallic head 26 at only one point of the rotation of the controlling leverQT around the dial. Ifthe contacts 2? and 24 are arranged at diametrically opposite points and the arms 28 and 29 arranged to engage them in such position the circuit could be con'ip'leted when the lever 27 was at diametrically opposite points on the dial.

In the adjustment of the device the valve ,disks are set within the casing so that the lateral. port 13 of the disk 9 registers with the intake port of the nipple 7 and the lateral opening 13 of the disk 10 registers with the outlet port of the nipple S. In this manner fuel an flow from the vacuum tank '2 to the carburetor (not shown). The opera tor then loosens the set screws which hold the levers 17 and 18 to the shaft 11 and sleeve These levers are then moved around the dial until they align with the correct graduation which to form the combination desired by the owner of the vehicle. The screws 16 are then set up against the shaft 11 and the sleeve 12 so that the levers are locked to said parts and when turned will rotate the valve dish-s to which they are connected. The lever 27 is similarly adjusted on the sleeve 25 while. the contacts are engaged by the rollers on the arms :28 and 29. \Vhen so adjusted and set, fuel may pass freely to the carburetor and current flows freely from its source to the point of application through the usual trans lating devices on the motor lillltlP.

\Vhen the operator of a motor vehicle de- Ill sires to lock the car he simply moves the levers 17, 18 and 27 to other points on the dial which carries the lateral ports 13 of the disks 9 and 10 out of register with the inlet and outlet ports and removes the rollers from engagement with the contacts 23 and 24. Thus no fuel can flow to the carburetor and no current to the translating device thereby making it impossible to operate the vehicle until the levers are set in their proper positions on the dial. It will be noted that the fuel lock may be operated wholly independent of the ignition lock or the ignition switch may be operated independent of the fuel valve control and it will also be seen that by movement of the lever 27 and a movement of one of the levers 17 or 18 both the ignition and the fuel may be locked because the operation of one valve disk to take its lateral port out of register with either the inlet or outlet opening will effectively cut off the fuel supply from the vacuum tank to the carburetor. By making the control of the ignition and the fuel supply independent and closely associating them it is very convenient for the owner of the vehicle to place the parts in operable position but difficult for an unauthorized person to properly set up the combination of the fuel control and the ignition control be cause a very effective permutation lock has been produced with the fuel and ignition switch constituting in effect the tumblers thereof. Any unauthorized person attempting to operate the vehicle would more than likely operate the wrong levers and even if the correct levers were operated, for instance, to connect up the fuel supply with the carburetor the exact combination would have to be known before both disks would register with the respective inlet and outlet ports. Even then the vehicle could not be operated unless the lever 27 was moved to the proper combination number on the dial to complete the circuit from the source of current to the translating devices.

In order to prevent unauthorized tampering with the fuel valve and its connection with the vacuum supply I enclose the same within a housing in which there is arranged diametrically opposite hangers 36 adapted to receive the laterally projecting studs 37 carried by the valve housing 5 whereby the valve is properly supported and capable of slight rotational movement so as to accommodate any relative movement between the dashboard and the instrument board.

As shown in Figures 1 and 7 the upper end of the housing is provided with a lateral offset 38 producing a shoulder 39 which seats upon the top of the bottom flange 40 of the vacuum tank 2. The lateral offset is clamped in position with the shoulder 39 in engagement with the flange 40 by means of a clamping band 41, whose ends are preferably soldered together or otherwise se cured so as to prevent ready removal of the housing and yet permit it to be disconnected from the vacuum tank in an authorized garage or machine shop when it is desired to make necessary repairs to the lock valve.

I preferably form the upper end of the housing 35 with a plurality of longitudinally extending fingers 42 which are comparatively flexible, so as to facilitate the production of the offset 38 when the band 41. is clamped around the upper end of the housing.

In Figure 9 the fingers 42 are shown turned inwardy and may if desired be sprung over the flange 40 so that their terminals engage the shoulder 43 at the upper end of the flange.

As shown in Figures 1, 8 and 9 the housing 35 is provided with a longitudinal slot 44 adapted to receive the shaft 12 and permit the placing of the housing 35 on the vacuum tank 32. The bottom of the housing is provided with an opening 45 for the passage of the outlet nipple 8. When the housing is used in the manner shown in Figure 7, the band 41 prevents the opening of slot 44, and a similar band may be used as in the construction shown in Figure 9. If desired, however, the sides of the slot may be connected together by a short strip soldered or brazed to the housing. If the fingers 42 are held in tight engagement with the outer surface of the tank 2, they will effectively prevent the removal of the housing whether a band like 41 is used or simply a connecting piece as just described.

If desirable the slot 44 may terminate short of the upper end and the fingers 42 made slightly resilient so as to spring over the flange 40 and engage the shoulder 43.

I have shown herein one arrangement of the parts which is effective to prevent unauthorized use of the car, but it will be understood that other arrangements may be made ,without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I have shown the dial connected to the bottom of the instrument board by a hinged knuckle, but it will be understood that this is only a conventional illustration of one way of mounting the dial as it may be readily set into the instrument board in a man ner now commonly used for mounting ammeters, oil meters, speedometers etc.

What I claim is:

1. In a fuel and ignition control for motor vehicles, the combination with a fuel control valve and an ignition switch, of a dial, separate operating members for said valve and switch projecting through said dial, and means operating over the dial for controlling the position of said members and consequently the valve and switch.

2. In a fuel and ignition control for inotor vehicles. the combination with a fuel control valve and an ignition switch, of a dial, separate operating members for said valve and switch arranged on a common axis and projecting through said dial and means operating over the dial for controlling the position of said members and consequently the valve and switch.

axis and projecting through sa-ididial. and

levers arranged to operate over said dial in different planes and connected to said members, controlling the posztion of said members and consequently the valve and switch.

.1:. In a fuel and ignition control for motor vehicles the combination with fuel control valves and ignition switch, of a dial, separate operating members for said valves passing through said dial and arranged to rotate on concentric axes, an operating member for said switch passing through said dial and arranged to rotate on an axis concentric with the valve operating ineinl'iers and levers connected to all of said operating members and arranged to rotate over said dial in different planes to control the operation of said. valves and switch.

in testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

TII JRBER'I. S. DE LAN D. 

